Cape Town City register name in history books

11 December 2016 - 02:00 By Own Correspondent
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Cape Town City captured the 2016 Telkom Knockout Cup at the Peter Mokaba Stadium in Polokwane last night, capping a wonderful cup run where they were clearly the best in all the matches they have won.

The Citizens, as City are known, are only in their infancy as a club, but they were deserved winners as they deposited their first piece of silverware in the cabinet.

They had their plans and all of them were executed perfectly.

Man of the match Aubrey Ngoma was at the heart of it all, scoring the opener and supplying a crisp cross for Judas Moseamedi’s trophy clincher.

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Ngoma scored the first goal, capitalising on a mistake of leftback Onismor Bhasera, who carelessly passed the ball away in midfield when he tried to pick out a heavily marked Thuso Phala.

The ball was easily snaffled and Ngoma was there to slot the ball in past goalkeeper Reyaad Pieterse in a superb finish.

It was a well-earned lead as coach Eric Tinkler’s side made all the early running and had the pace to worry SuperSport United’s experienced but immobile defence.

If there is a side that could harm SuperSport with their pace and ingenuity, it was the new Cape Town outfit.

Most sides battle to live with Ngoma and Bhongolwethu Jayiya and that was the case with coach Stuart Baxter’s men.

“We needed to score that second [goal]. I said that at half time,” said an ecstatic Tinkler in the post-match interview. “These boys keep making history every day and we are just going game by game.”

Baxter was gracious in defeat.

“I wasn’t happy with the way that we were playing both defensively and offensively at times.

“But we gradually got better, getting into their box, which means we got an equaliser.

“They threw the kitchen sink at us. The two goals that we gave up are bad goals. Congratulations to Eric and his boys. He is a very  serious coach and he deserves one.”

Had The Citizens took advantage of the avalanche of chances they had in the first half, they could have sealed the tie by an even bigger margin.

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Pieterse did well to thwart Sibusiso Masina’s clear-cut chance in the 30th after Clayton Daniels fluffed a Ngoma cross while Jayiya should have done better with his 44th-minute header as SuperSport’s tall defensive timbers were found wanting.

The tempo increased in the second half as SuperSport searched for the equaliser while City searched for the killer goal.

In the prelude to the goals scored by either side in the 71st and 73rd minutes, they traded blows like inexperienced boxers.

Thabo Mnyamane (51st minute), Kingston Nkhatha (65th) and Morgan Gould (66th) tested goalkeeper Shuaib Walters while Ngoma (62nd) and Lebogang Manyama (64th) asked questions of Pieterse’s skill.

City blinked first when Nkatha equalised from close range after the ball fortuitously found its way to him from a Phala corner via Gould and Daniels.

City’s response was swift and decisive. Manyama’s initial pass was met by Ngoma, whose cross was turned in by second-half substitute Moseamedi’s head and left Pieterse clutching at straws in the air. It was the cup-winning goal.

When the year 2016 eventually comes to an end in 20 days’ time, hopefully it will carry over its capacity to surprise to the following year.

When teams like City come out of nowhere to win their first trophy without even being six months old, it speaks of a year where the form book belongs in the rubbish bin.

 City have enjoyed a fairy-tale run in the 2016/17 season.

They are top of the table and in the Premier Soccer League and are riding the crest of the wave from the Cape to Polokwane.

SuperSport United: 1

Cape Town City: 2

 

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